China’s Caixin.com reports that former CCTV deputy director Sun Yusheng will become vice president of Phoenix TV, which, along with the earlier news that Xu Wei, former deputy director of Shanghai’s foreign propaganda office, will take over as Phoenix TV’s chairman, has led to discussions that Phoenix TV has officially become CCTV’s Hong Kong affiliate. Scholars also analyzed that this is related to the Chinese Communist Party‘s more direct control over Hong Kong.
Trump: You work for China (media) well?
Phoenix reporter: No, it’s Hong Kong.
Last April, then-President Trump asked a Phoenix reporter at a White House press conference whether his background was China-related, and the reporter denied it by saying he was “from Hong Kong” in a “private media outlet. This episode at the press conference led to a heated debate over whether the Chinese Communist Party’s major foreign propaganda effort had entered the White House, as Phoenix founder Liu Changle has a background in the People’s Liberation Army and is a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
Phoenix, founded in Hong Kong in 1996, has always used its status in Hong Kong to disguise its official ties to China. However, the latest news of a top-level change at Phoenix shows that a top Chinese Communist Party official is directly in charge of Phoenix. Experts say that Phoenix is “out of the picture” this Time.
The senior deputy director of CCTV is in charge of the academics: sworn under the management of the Chinese Communist Party
China’s Caixin.com cited an internal memo from Phoenix TV on the 25th, saying that Sun Yusheng, deputy editor-in-chief and deputy director of CCTV of the China Central Radio and Television (CCTV), has been appointed executive vice president of Phoenix TV and is responsible for its work to the chief executive officer; at present, the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Phoenix TV are still served by founder Liu Changle.
The memo, which reads “important personnel appointments,” says Sun Yusheng will be responsible for Phoenix’s program planning, programming style, content, production and coordination of channel management. The report also quoted sources familiar with the matter as saying that Sun Yusheng is expected to become the CEO of Phoenix TV in the future.
” We still have a lot of road to go on the road of media integration, it will take time to bend and overtake, we are in an era of mixed public opinion, as requested by General Secretary Xi, to build a new pattern of public opinion guidance!” This was a public talk given by Sun Yusheng at the China Online Media Forum in September 2020, in which he boasted about the ratings performance of China’s official media during the Epidemic, which “did tell the story of the fight against the epidemic”.
In contrast to the situation of most independent media, scholars, citizen journalists or ordinary citizens who were suppressed and disappeared when they questioned the truth during the epidemic, Sun Yusheng’s speech was in line with the Communist Party’s official line, serving as the party’s mouthpiece in another parallel time and space.
“By transferring (the deputy director of CCTV) there now, you’re basically ripping off all the pretense of the past , swearing that Phoenix is directly under the management of the CCP.” Chen Kuide, executive chairman of the Princeton China Society, analyzed.
Phoenix TV is officially a branch of CCTV?
Sun Yusheng, who is just over 60, has spent his entire career at CCTV after graduating from Jilin University with a degree in economics. He has participated in key CCTV programs such as “Focus Interview” and “News Investigation”, and was elected as a delegate to the 15th CPC National Congress in 1995.
HK01 also reported recently that Xu Wei, secretary of the party committee of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, former editor-in-chief of Oriental TV and former deputy director of Shanghai Foreign Propaganda Office, will become chairman of Phoenix TV.
“Now the whole country is in red, and we are also very annoyed.” A Phoenix employee, who did not want to be named for security reasons, told the station. The employee mentioned that Phoenix has been tightening its control over news for years, and that news details down to the smallest detail have to be repeatedly reviewed by editors, and that official approval is required to report on sensitive topics in U.S.-China relations.
Hu Ping, editor-in-chief emeritus of the U.S. Chinese political commentary magazine Beijing Spring, told the station that Phoenix used to serve two purposes: first, it was a big foreign propaganda for overseas viewers, seemingly neutral on the surface, but in fact still defending the Chinese Communist Party and saying good things; second, Phoenix was a little wider in scale than the domestic media, and could be seen at Home, “Many dissidents also used to have a good opinion of Phoenix has a certain good feeling.”
Hu Ping also analyzed that this change in Phoenix is also related to further direct control by the CCP in Hong Kong. “The Chinese Communist Party used to be indirect (control of Hong Kong) because it still considered one country, two systems and kept the tradition of the legal system and freedom of speech in Hong Kong, but now it’s bare knuckles.”
What trouble did Liu Changle get into?
The Phoenix personnel earthquake was accompanied by the once-unconfirmed news that Liu Changle’s Family had withdrawn from the Phoenix Group.
On September 11, 2020, the online lending platform “Phoenix Finance” led by Liu Changle’s son-in-law He Xin was suddenly taken offline, and rumors spread on the Internet that at least 70,000 families were cheated out of nearly $10 billion in funds.
“Phoenix Finance, pay back! Liu Changle, pay back the money! Phoenix TV, pay back!” Many videos of victims visiting the Phoenix building to collectively defend their rights appeared on social media, as well as a large number of victims’ distress posts. However, the Phoenix Financial lightning storm has not yet been significantly reported by the Chinese media.
Wang Jian, a senior media personality who used to work in Hong Kong, analyzed that Phoenix Group has been trying to innovate its profit model in the past few years. In the past, it has become increasingly difficult to make a living by playing the game in the media business, which he described as, “If you can’t play the game, you have to shine your shoes.”
Sun Yusheng, former deputy director of CCTV.
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